June 22 (UPI) — A federal judge on Monday threw out multiple Justice Department subpoenas issued to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other officials, saying they are unconstitutional and part of attempts to harass President Donald Trump’s political opponents.
The subpoenas sought to force Walz and others to turn over records and information as part of a federal investigation into whether Democratic officials obstructed the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown through public resistance. Many officials spoke out about the crackdown, which drew widespread protests and resulted in two deaths of U.S. citizens at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and the arrests of more than 4,000 undocumented immigrants.
District Judge Patrick Schiltz said the subpoenas were “part of an unconstitutional effort to coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration laws and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so,” CNN reported.
Schiltz further said the subpoenas were part of a federal campaign that “played out against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s well-established history of using criminal investigations to retaliate against and pressure the president’s political and personal adversaries,” ABC News reported.
“The fact that connections between the information sought in the subpoenas and any possible criminal violation range from extremely weak to nonexistent only adds to the overwhelming evidence that these subpoenas were not issued to investigate, but to harass, coerce and retaliate,” the judge wrote in his order.
The Justice Department issued the subpoenas Jan. 20 during the Trump administration’s immigration surge in Minnesota. The officials targeted included Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Major Kaohly Her, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and Board of Commissioners.
Schiltz noted that Justice Department officials have threatened to punish states with “sanctuary” policies and that the Constitution expressly allows Minnesota to decide not to use its resources to enforce federal immigration law.
Walz posted on social media on Monday lauding the ruling.
“The U.S. Justice Department is pursuing criminal investigations into the president’s political opponents,” he wrote. “This case was just one example of that, but we are seeing daily reminders of this administration’s lawlessness — in Minnesota and around the country. We all must continue to seek justice and uphold the rule of law.”
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